According to the magazine, the rankings build upon the premise, "What are colleges doing for the country?"

"After all, higher education matters to more than just the people who attend," the magazine writes. "We all benefit when university researchers produce groundbreaking research in science, medicine, and technology.

"We're all affected by the productivity of our knowledge workers and the integrity of our college-educated leaders. And we all pay for it through hundreds of billions of dollars in public subsidies to higher education, costs that are rapidly increasing in response to tuition increases that never seem to end."

A key element in a school's evaluation is in social mobility, which the magazine defines as giving "colleges credit for enrolling many low-income students and helping them earn degrees."

According to Alabama A&M, the school is the highest-ranked among Historically Black Colleges and Universities for social mobility.

"The rankings confirms and validates our commitment to access and opportunity and our effectiveness in graduating students," Alabama A&M President Andrew Hugine said in a press release. "Our goal is to continue to provide a quality education at an affordable cost and this national ranking is a testament to what our students can expect."

In rankings for National Universities, the University of Alabama in Huntsville was No. 197, two spots behind the University of Alabama. Auburn University was the highest-ranked state school at No. 60.